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While venture capitalists are eager to invest their money, this does not mean it’s easy for entrepreneurs to snag funding. The fact is that only a small number of entrepreneurs are able to convince VCs to write checks.

And this may not necessarily be because the business is a bad fit or flawed. Keep in mind that it is common for entrepreneurs to make glaring errors when making their pitch.

So what to do? Well, I recently reached out to Heath Wells, who is the CEO and co-founder of NuORDER. The company has developed a platform for cloud and mobile B2B ecommerce. The goal is to disrupt how the wholesale business is conducted.

“We had sold a digital agency and media company in Australia prior to moving to Los Angeles and used the proceeds to initially fund NuORDER,” said Heath. “We knew that to grow and make NuORDER successful, we needed to raise capital, but neither one of us had any experience in raising money. Needless to say, we had many failed attempts. But we didn’t give up. We kept moving forward, learning from each ‘no.’ We slowly, but continuously, improved each pitch and continued networking with every possible investor.”

In all, Heath has been able raise $25 million since late 2012. Some of his backers include Upfront Ventures, Greycroft, Cowboy Ventures, Box Group, Argentum and Rachel Zoe.

Similar to a sales process, raising capital involves stages, where there is a pipeline. Actually, you should use a CRM for this!

There will also be quite a bit of prospecting. This means you should create a shortlist of potential VCs that are appropriate for the round size and industry background.

“I would suggest you pick no less than 30 funds and rank them based on which ones you really think will eat up your vision and which will be great investors,” said Heath. “Don’t give a higher ranking to a VC just because they are ‘cool’.”

Then comes the hard part – that is, you need to make connections with the partners of the funds. But this is not just about sending an email. For the most part, VCs often look for introductions from people they trust. In other words, you will need to engage in old-fashioned networking, such as by going to events.

“We were lucky enough to meet David Tisch from Box Group,” said Heath. “We sold him on our mission, and he became an advocate for us – making many introductions to other firms on our behalf, which minimized the number of cold calls we had to do on our own.”

#2 - Ask for feedback and adapt.

Expect rejections. This is just part of the game. Most importantly, don’t take things personally. This will only make it tougher to achieve your goals.

“Ask the VC to supply you with clear and honest feedback,” said Heath. “Often, a VC will have an opinion on your business that you think is incorrect. That is ok. We have two ears and one mouth, so listen and decide what you believe is sound advice. That said, if you are getting similar feedback across the board, then correct your pitch ASAP.”

#3 - VC partners are not created equally.

It’s important to understand the power dynamics of a VC firm. Note that one or two partners will have the most influence on investment decisions.

“We have been in situations where we were moving in a positive direction with a VC, but once it got to the partners meeting, we realized the partner we had as our champion lacked conviction when compared to one of the more prominent voices,” said Heath. “As you qualify your pipeline, make sure you think about the other partners that will need to get behind your vision. Learning from this, we could have engaged with the more prominent partners earlier on in the process, building a more beneficial relationship with the firm.”

#3 - Don’t get hung up on valuation. Focus on the right partner.

In today’s startup world, there seems to be an obsession on getting mega rounds at mega valuations. But this could really distort your company’s prospects (I recently wrote about this for Forbes.com).

“Chances are, you will be faced with deciding between the right partner or a term sheet with a higher valuation,” said Heath. “Remember that you are going on a journey with this person for 7-10 years – depending on your stage -- so you want someone with whom you can talk and solve problems. Focus on how you are going to create enterprise value with a great partner rather than worrying too much about a few million in value or a few points in dilution.”